If you came here expecting to see my freshly painted Ikea Hemnes dresser, I apologize. We had a change of plans.

I had a few errands to run Saturday so I had to postpone the painting project, so instead I convinced Brad to finally get our guest bath vanity from Lowe's, so our guests could start washing their hands after they used the restroom.

We began our guest bath transformation in June, but had to bring it to a hault in the middle of demo following our sudden unfortunate news. After our wrong granite install ordeal, Lowe's agreed to make it up to us with a discount of some sort for our next big purchase.

This single purchase project soon turned into a total bath overhaul (or at least picking up from where we left off). While we were measuring for the vanity, we knew we had to find a solution for the messed up drywall where the previous vanity had been:

Old pic, before new floors and toilet

So, I came up with the idea to use the wonderfully simple/cheap and aesthetically pleasing beadboard. Luckily, Brad was down with the plan, so we headed to Lowe's to get the goods.

We ended up finding a vanity that would work perfectly (it was a vanity/counter top/sink combo so we had no choice but to take it all).

And we loved it all. And we also loved that Lowe's paid for $150 of it plus free delivery (yay!)

We also purchased the matching mirror:

For the sink hardware, I found a nice ORB faucet to fit the vanity, on super clearance:

I didn't see any lighting I loved there, so we went to Home Depot and picked up a nice 3-light ORB wall mounted fixture (sorry, no pics just yet.... it will just have to be a surprise)

Back at the house, we were dying to get rid of these old 90's porcelain towel and toilet paper holders (ugh)

After trying to delicately remove them with no luck, it was hammer time.

Which unfortunately left us with these:

The bottom hole would thankfully be covered by beadboard, but the top two were going to be an issue. So we picked up a couple 6" mesh patch kits and hoped for the best...

This was earlier today... and they are still pink as I type.

Our old baseboards were lookin pretty gnarly, so we picked up some fresh replacements:

Susie was double checking our plumbing measurements, just to make sure

We had a fun surprise underneath....

After the new trim piece went in, we were left with gaps in the grout which had to be addressed. Both of us being grout virgins, we were slightly nervous about taking on the project without adult supervision... but it had to be done.

So we dug up the old bag of grout that the tile installer had left in the garage, added some water, and grabbed a dish sponge.

And I am proud to report, I have unlocked my hidden talent.

Skills... right? I had so much fun that I actually went and touched up the kitchen and foyer tile (you know, to fix the "professional's" amateur mistakes). But seriously, grouting is fun and I'm happy to check it off my bucket list.

Back to the bathroom.

We had more patching to do...

While we were waiting for all the pink to turn white, we figured we'd just start painting around the spackled areas since we wanted to be as efficient with our time as possible (and it was Sunday evening so the clock was ticking).

I was getting tired of the pale beige-yellow, and didn't want to splurge for a new gallon of paint, so I used the color that's currently in our hallway and kitchen (Valspar's Tranquil). I love how the color looks different in all 3 spaces because of the lighting. In this bathroom it's a darker and warmer soft grey.

After we got a solid coat on all the walls, we moved to the beadboard. Lucky for us, Home Depot had cut at least most pieces correctly. Enough to get started at least.

We did the "easy wall" first. We simply lined our boards up (this was in 2 pieces since the panels are only 4" wide), put a bit of liquid nails on the back, and nail gun'd the suckers in. The trim required one simple miter cut and we popped that baby with a few nails, and viola! We are getting good at this stuff.

The next wall required a bit more planning to work around the plumbing, like this pipe behind the toilet:

Brad notched a section out with his jigsaw for the sink plumbing (which didn't come out as smooth as expected since we were holding it with our hands trying to calm the violent shaking....), but it's behind the sink so no one will see it.

Here's the other side as of now:

We have one more small piece to put up on that wall, and one more on the side wall (that Home Depot needs to trim a bit more), then the chair rail for that side and our molding is done!

To make sure we had the right measurements, we set the vanity up in the space:

See how it lines up near perfect with the molding? The chair rail will run seamlessly on top of both across that wall. I'm so glad (/surprised) we avoided major disaster with all these measurements... this was definitely a first.

And there you have it, the current state of our bathroom. Brad will be working on it throughout the week, and hopefully this weekend we can finish "most" of it. I'd still love to have the shower/tub reglazed in white, and to knock out the recessed medicine cabinet on the right wall and build a recessed open shelving cubby. That will come soon, but for now I'm so excited we're back into a new (much needed project!)

We've also been keeping busy with other things...

We finally got around to installing this Grundtal rail from Ikea and I'm quite excited about it.

Great storage solution, right?

And finally... something caught my eye on Overstock the other night.

So I bought it. And it's going in the foyer. Finally. After monthssssssss of searching every corner of the internet/world, I found something I love! For a great price, too.

And speaking of our foyer... (quick pic to jog your memory)

Brad and I were talking about all the scuffs and scratches and decaying baseboard and trim that has occured in this area, and by some miracle I got him to agree to a full board & batten makeover {insert huge smiley face here}. Apparently he's forgotten the total pain that was our dining room faux wainscotting adventure... but now I have it in writing so I can hold him to it! This probably won't happen for another several weeks, but it's on the radar!

Now if you'll excuse me... I need to scrub the grout and caulk and paint off myself. Have a happy week everyone!